Leading lights of West Coast clay

Like his work or not, Michael Lucero’s ambition can’t be denied. As a ceramic artist, he may come closest, in terms of his technical skill, sense of scale, elaborateness of subject, careening intelligence and outright hokeyness, to filling the shoes vacated by the death of Robert Arneson.

I don’t know about the Arneson comparison. Lucero is a carny world shapeshifter, and Arneson was Rabelisian. Arneson has much more in common with Howard Kottler, whose reputation is buried alive in his Northwest roots.

Lucero graduated from the University of Washington in the late 1970s and benefited from Kottler’s subversive material wit. Although Lucero lit out for New York, he returned from time to time to show at SAM, the Henry, the Linda Farris Gallery and now in a group exhibit at Pacini Lubel, opening Aug. 7. Without question, he’s the best artist in the PL lineup.

From this base he crafted his pun-filled, pre-pubescent phallic humor, using marbled contact paper instead of marble, simulated wood grain instead of wood. His “Coming and Going,” a clay bust covered in fool’s gold leaf, vinyl and paint, looks like a Boccioni in drag.

“Devil Walk” – now on view at the Bellevue Arts Museum – is a shout out to Balla’s “Woman Walking a Dog.” Among Kottler’s self-portraits is “Howeird,” a kind of a reverse Mount Rushmore, with Kottler’s face receding instead of protruding. He glazed his fractured features in gold luster over clay and set them into a black leather box with words pressed into metal around its base. They read, ” … Is weird weird, weird, how weird is how weird … “

In 2004, Vicki Halper curated an exhibit of his decal plates, titled “Look Alikes.” It opened at the Tacoma Art Museum and traveled. Although a minor part of his production, they are the only part that has seen the light of day in recent years.

As she noted in the catalog, Kottler was obviously but not avowedly gay. His parents never stopped hoping he’d marry a nice girl. Here’s his answer: In his version of “American Gothic,” dentist stands slumped shoulder to shoulder in married partnership with dentist. The dour sister also teams up with herself.